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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23131732">take care</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrykins/pseuds/kerrykins'>kerrykins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sharp Objects (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, if your friendship isn't just a little bit homoerotic then what's the point</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:22:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23131732</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrykins/pseuds/kerrykins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>two drabbles that i tried and failed to connect into one cohesive story - i don't even know if this counts as femslash but anyways.... this is a (late) birthday gift for my favourite internet celebrity pati ily queen</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora Crellin &amp; Jackie O'Neill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>take care</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpatix/gifts">xpatix</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>two drabbles that i tried and failed to connect into one cohesive story - i don't even know if this counts as femslash but anyways.... this is a (late) birthday gift for my favourite internet celebrity pati ily queen</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jackie has spent her entire life looking after Adora.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Most of the time she doesn’t mind it. She’s known Adora since they were children and though the same could be said about the rest of Adora’s social circle, none of those women are close to her like Jackie is. Jackie falls out of favor every now and then-- she gets wasted at brunch and embarrasses Adora, forgets to return a casserole dish, won’t stop talking when Adora tells her to. And then she’s ignored for the larger part, not just by Adora, but the rest of Wind Gap too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually Adora finds the goodness in her heart to forgive her. Or at least she claims so, though Jackie knows it’s for purely selfish reasons. Adora doesn’t need her until she does, her mercurial moods the determing factor in whether or not she likes Jackie. She hadn’t always been so flippant; before Marian died the two of them spent almost every moment together. Adora would invite Jackie over for nightcaps and they’d lie on her bed, exchange passing remarks about their days. Sometimes Adora would even allow Jackie to wrap her arms around her and they’d stay that way for hours.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But those moments were a thing of the past now. So Jackie has to make do with lukewarm pleasantries and the constant game of guessing Adora’s thoughts. It’s a skill that’s improved with time and yet there are some things about Adora that Jackie will never fully know or understand. She isn’t sure if she wants to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What Jackie does know however, is this: in spite of the horrible things Adora says to her or the unspoken, reproachful rift between them, she will always stay. If not for the cruel thing Adora has become, Jackie will stay for the friend she once had and missed desperately.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first thing Jackie sees when she wakes up is Adora at her bedside. An IV needle is in her arm and her surroundings are the blinding white of the emergency room wing. Even in her drug-induced haze, she knows to dread the tirade of criticism that’s surely coming. She recalls all the pills and booze she’d had the night before and her stomach lurches at the memory of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come here often?” Jackie asks, her voice coming out cracked and hoarse. She watches Adora lean forward, her strawberry blonde hair falling in delicate locks around her shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It appears as though I can’t leave you unattended for more than a few hours at a time, can I? Nothing good comes of it.” Adora speaks with a loftiness that manages to sound both mechanical and exhausted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, you’re not,” she replies sharply, and Jackie thinks she hears real pain in Adora’s voice but she easily could have imagined it. “I’ve already spoken to the doctors and thankfully there wasn’t any permanent damage done. But you’re lucky to be alive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her hand moves to lightly pull at her eyelashes, the gesture automatic. By doing so she shields her eyes from Jackie, any thoughts and emotions impossible to discern from Jackie’s vantage point.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jackie sighs. “I just had a little too much to drink, that’s all. I’ve inconvenienced you and for that I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, of course you have,” says Adora, sounding as though that was a given. However she surprised Jackie by adding, “But I’m just glad you’re still here. I’m tired of being left.” While her tone is controlled enough, Jackie knows what she means. Marian’s death has never been fully reconciled by Adora and Jackie doubts it ever will be. With Camille and Amma living in Chicago, Adora’s lonelier than ever, now that she no longer has any children to fuss over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It dawns on Jackie that maybe Adora cares for her in some small, twisted way, at least enough to admit that she’d be missed. It’s a nice thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t plan on overdosing again any time soon,” Jackie offers, feeling a lot better than she was a minute ago. “And I’m grateful that I got to wake up to your pretty face instead of some doctor’s.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Adora doesn’t smile at her comment. But she takes Jackie’s hand in hers, silently intertwining their fingers so their palms line up.</span>
</p>
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